Best Friends, Always
by Farbautidottir
Summary: In this AU where Cedric doesn't die in the Goblet of Fire, Ron and Harry's friendship is tested by the secret Harry is keeping. A secret that's threatening to make itself known with every steamy letter Cho and Cedric send Harry while he stays with the Weasleys.


It had been easily the best summer of Harry Potter's life, and the bit he most looked forward to hadn't even begun. It would tomorrow though. His stomach gave a jolt at the thought. Tomorrow he would leave the Burrow to stay the remainder of the summer holidays with the Diggorys. Cedric and his dad would be around first thing to collect him. Lying restlessly on the makeshift bed of extra blankets and pillows next to Ron's bed in the attic, Harry wondered how he could possibly fall asleep knowing he'd see Cedric so soon.

Of course, Cedric had been in touch for all five weeks of summer thus far. He even managed to call Harry on the Saturday the Dursleys went out for Dudley's return celebration during Harry's first—and only—week at #4 Privet Drive. They had spoken for an hour straight, mostly about Quidditch and little about how Professor Moody had turned out to be Barty Crouch Jr. The criminal was now securely back in Azkaban, a count of patricide added to his tally of crimes.

Once Harry arrived at the Weasleys', Cedric began to send letters by owl instead. They began rather tame, but when Cho returned from her trip to Germany to visit family, she began exchanging frequent letters with Harry and Cedric too and things heated up almost exactly to the point the three had left off at the end of term.

Harry hadn't told anyone about their relationship. When the letters first began rolling in, Ron merely commented a "Blimey Harry! You didn't even finish the third task of the Triwizard Tournament and you still get fan mail."

Other than that one comment though, Ron didn't seem to notice much, until Fred joked two weeks in, "Ron, you better watch out. Cedric's gonna replace your best friend status."

Ron scoffed, but moodily avoided everyone the rest of the day, cleverly disguised as "needing to finish that essay for Professor Snape so Hermione would shut up about it."

Harry had turned red at Fred's comment, which likely did not help to reassure Ron that his best friend status remained quite secure. It would've been impossible not to blush like a summer strawberry though, given what Cedric's letters contained. They steamed with a desire that strayed far from friendship.

Cho's were no easier to read in the busy Burrow, as she used rather descriptive language about everything she imagined doing with them both once they were back at Hogwarts. Harry quickly had made a habit of escaping outside to write them back. He gave the pretence of degnoming the garden, which Mrs. Weasley was very pleased with at first. Eventually, though, everyone came to recognize what Percy had stated day one—"Harry obviously just wants some alone time. Who can blame him with you lot fussing about in everyone's business all the time?"

The garden had its own problems, notably the mud, which got all over his parchment and occasionally into his quill tip. The gnomes, of course, were obnoxious. But gormless as they were, Harry simply had to drop kick a few to scare off the rest and buy himself an hour undisturbed. Needless to say, he was most looking forward to simply being able to talk to Cedric rather than mess around with all this hiding in the garden business. Well, that and touching him. He definitely was looking forward to touching him.

He rolled over again in his spot on the floor of Ron's bedroom and began stroking his crotch under the covers as he thought about how long five weeks really could seem.

\/\/\/\

Cedric and his father arrived just after breakfast, exchanging greetings and pleasantries with everyone except Mrs. Weasley and Percy, who'd already left for a trip to Diagon Alley. Mr. Weasley appeared to have forgotten entirely that the Diggorys were coming because he invited Mr. Diggory in with a start, ushering him into the living room and offering him a morning nip of firewhiskey as if he were some esteemed guest.

"I could just be tempted, Arthur. So long as the missus doesn't hear." Mr. Diggory said, a twinkle in his eye.

"Not a word, Amos." Mr. Weasley grinned, closing the door between the kitchen and living room behind them.

This left Cedric alone in the kitchen with the Weasley children and Harry.

"Did you want anything to eat?" Harry asked to break the silence. Cedric wasn't exactly acquainted with any of the Weasleys despite being the same year at Hogwarts as Fred and George.

"No, I just ate, thanks." Cedric smiled.

"Too bad about losing the Triwizard Tournament," Ron said in a casual tone.

Harry glared at him while Ginny berated, "Ron!"

"Fancy some pickup Quidditch while our dads chat work?" Fred said, shovelling another piece of bacon in his mouth.

"Hey, two seekers finally!" George grinned, heading for their brooms. They were stacked by the bench for taking off your shoes in what Mrs. Weasley proudly deemed the Entry Nook, but was really just a space in the kitchen near the door.

"Sure, sounds fun!" Cedric brightened and gave Harry a smirk, "Too bad Cho's not here. She'd love a game of pick-up."

"Yeah, too bad." Harry breathed, forcing a laugh as he found himself lost in Cedric's grey eyes.

Ron interrupted the moment with a half-mumbled, "What's that look about?"

"What look?" Harry startled.

Ron's eyes darted between them and he muttered, "Nothing," before shoving past them to grab his own broom and Keeper headgear.

Harry gave Cedric an apologetic grimace and headed towards the stairs, saying, "My Firebolt's upstairs."

Cedric followed him up, all the way to the attic where the racing broom was located with the rest of Harry's stuff.

"Is Ron mad at me?" Cedric asked once they were alone.

"Honestly, I don't know what his deal is. Last year he was jealous of me being in the tournament when I didn't even enter. I guess he's jealous of you. I don't know why though. He's clearly into Hermione. You should have seen him when her letter arrived from Krum's place in Bulgaria." Harry said, grabbing his broom.

"I don't want to cause you issues with your friends. Do you think… maybe he's… I don't know…"

"Interested in me?" Harry said with a softened look. "No. He's definitely not interested in me or any other boy."

Relief made itself apparent in Cedric's body language, though he still pressed, "Are you sure?"

Harry moved close enough to wrap his arms around Cedric's waist. The Firebolt's handle pushed against Cedric's hard back as Harry rose up on the balls of his feet to kiss him tenderly.

"I'm sure," Harry said. "Now let's go kick their arses at Quidditch."

Cedric grinned, rubbing a hand over Harry's ass forcefully while kissing him quite a bit less tenderly than Harry had. Harry moaned against his lips, every part of him wanted to strip the Hufflepuff Seeker right there and take him on the floor. He pulled away somehow, a voice in his head reminding him that Ron likely wanted to christen his bedroom himself.

Cedric padded close behind Harry as they returned downstairs, telling him, "I was made Head Boy this year. The letter came yesterday."

"That's great! Congrats, Ced."

"What's great?" Ginny asked as they emerged back in the kitchen. The twins and Ron appeared to be outside already.

"I made Head Boy," Cedric said with his bright smile.

Ginny went a little pink as he smiled at her, but managed a quick, "Congratulations."

Harry headed for the remaining brooms in the corner and chose the longest one for Cedric. The twins were his height, but barely.

"Here," he held it out. "They're not always reliable. Fred and George jinxed several of them but forgot which ones had which jinx on it. So, some got the wrong counter-jinx."

"It'll make for an interesting match then." Cedric laughed.

The three of them went outside and headed towards the grassy field where the Weasleys had set up goal hoops made from reclaimed metal scraps. They decided to use only the Quaffle given their low numbers, then split into teams of three. Harry was intentionally vocal about being on Ron's team, and Ginny offered to be on Cedric's team, so the twins split up and George took goal for Ginny and Cedric.

The game was fun. Everyone played at Hogwarts, so the comfort of playing quickly overcame any awkwardness that had appeared with Cedric's arrival. As Ginny being the only true Chaser, and Cedric was bigger than everyone else they ended up making a great offensive pair. Fred and Harry, though, had instinctive defensive reflexes, and it was hard to say if any side had the upper hand. Ultimately it was Ron's skill as Keeper that enabled their team to win under the Weasleys' First to 100 Points rule.

Sweaty and flush with the vibrancy of athletic youth, the six returned to the Burrow in a noisy hum of excited banter. Mr. Weasley and Mr. Diggory were waiting outside, sat on the bench Mrs. Weasley had had Charlie put up years ago to enjoy the sunshine on nice days. The men stood as the kids approached.

"Have fun?" Mr. Diggory asked Cedric.

"Loads. Ginny taught me some new techniques. Will be easier to beat Gryffindor this year for sure." Cedric said.

"Oh, you wish!" Ginny teased.

"You didn't beat us though." Harry chimed in cheekily.

"Blame George for that!" Ginny cried.

"Sounds like a good time." Mr. Weasley said.

"Are we all ready? Your mum is expecting us back for lunch." Mr. Diggory said to Cedric before looking to Harry, "You'll love her cooking, Harry."

"I'm certain I will, sir," Harry said. His stomach did a sort of flip flop of nerves as it sunk in that this was Cedric's dad and he needed to make a good impression.

"I'll help you with your stuff." Cedric offered to Harry.

"Thanks," Harry smiled.

"I can help as well." Ron chirped.

"Yeah, great!" Harry said.

The three disappeared up to the attic and only needed one trip to bring Harry's trunk and owl cage down. Hedwig was somewhere between England and Bulgaria, delivering letters to Viktor and Hermione.

Harry ended up having to carry very little as Ron clamored to help more than Cedric. When they got downstairs again, Mr. Diggory used a Shrinking charm on Harry's stuff and slipped it all into an extendable bag for travel. He started his goodbyes to Mr. Weasley.

"We're still on for school shopping at Diagon Alley, right?" Ron asked Harry. Ginny peered on with interest.

"Yeah, course. We'll figure out a date that works with Hermione." Harry said.

"Maybe Cho could meet us?" Cedric offered.

Harry flushed red at this, but Ron looked offended. He hadn't meant for Cedric to come too, let alone Cho.

"You'll all sort it out, I'm sure," Ginny interjected, likely to ease the tension.

Mr. Diggory stepped towards the door and Cedric and Harry followed, exiting the Burrow out into the sunshine.

"Thanks for having me," Harry said, directing it at Mr. Weasley. "I had a great time."

"Always a pleasure, Harry!" Mr. Weasley beamed.

"See ya, Ron." Harry threw in as both Diggorys took hold of his hands.

"See ya." Ron managed to get in before the three of them Disapparated.

\/\/\/\

"Well, that's it," Cedric said, gesturing his arm in a sweeping motion.

They were at the end of his house tour for Harry, an idea he produced after they finished the hearty lunch Mrs. Diggory had prepared. The culminating location was his bedroom. Harry took it in. It was bigger than Ron's room of course, though that was easy to achieve. But it was also bigger than his room at the Dursleys, not by too much though. It was probably the same size as Dudley's room, but Harry avoided going in there well enough to not recount precisely how large it was.

The décor was simple. A combination of navy blue and white with a desk and chair matching set that looked be some type of oak. A bulletin board hung on the wall above the desk. Scattered across it were newspaper clippings and pictures of friends and famous Quidditch players alike. Cho's portrait with her pet owl was in the far right corner, closest to where the bed met the desk. There was also a clipping from the Daily Prophet of Harry and Cedric as contestants at the First Task. Harry hated how he looked in it, but the fact that Cedric had it up in his bedroom made him see the photo in a new light.

"Did you have a lot of homework this summer?" Cedric asked when Harry made no comment on his bedroom.

"Oh, yeah. Nothing out of the usual load. I still need to do my essay for Snape." Harry replied. He moved to Cho's picture, touching an index finger to the photo paper. "I miss her."

"Me too," Cedric said.

He cast a spell to silence the room from outsiders then put his wand on the desk. His body pressed against Harry's back, an arm wrapping around his thin torso as he pressed a kiss to his neck. Harry leaned his head back, relaxing into Cedric's chest until Ced began to tug at his shirt.

"Are you sure we can here?" Harry asked, full of concern. He'd been certain of getting caught with letters for weeks now, not to mention living at the Dursley's was a constant state of walking on eggshells.

"I locked the door and cast a silencing spell," Cedric replied soothingly. "My parents always knock anyway."

Harry pressed his lips to Cedric's for a short kiss and nodded.

"Okay, then," he said.

Cedric pulled off Harry's shirt and let it drop to the floor. Harry's glasses went askew, and he removed them and put them on Cedric's desk while Cedric took off his own shirt. He pressed his chest against Harry's back and both boys breathed deeply at the skin to skin contact. Cedric's mouth was on Harry's neck again, kissing him in light tracks over his shoulder and then back to his neck.

Cedric's lips reached his ear where he whispered, "I got more of the potion for us."

Harry nodded, his eyes closed and his lips parted at the thought of Cedric inside of him. The potion was a lubricant, and readily available in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, but not especially easy to brew in secret at school. The ingredients were rather specific, and Professor Snape was rather nosy.

Harry reached up to stroke Cedric's cheek and jaw, gripping him with a deft, light touch as he turned his face into his for a kiss. It deepened and Cedric busied himself undoing Harry's belt and trousers as their tongues met inside their mouths. Harry stepped out of his clothing, so he was completely naked.

He let out a little "unf" as Cedric's hand wrapped around his erection. He savored the feeling of his powerful grip, always better than Cho's when it came to this activity.

"Merlin, I've missed you." Cedric murmured.

"Yeah," Harry managed.

"Let me take off my trousers," Cedric said, releasing his hold on Harry.

After he too was naked, he fumbled through a drawer in his wardrobe, returning to Harry with the potion. Harry reached for him, glad he was close enough to be visible again without his glasses on. He ran his fingers over Ced's stomach muscles, down to his bursting erection. It was better than he remembered. Standing tall and proud. Harry did not touch it for long, his eyes meeting Cedric's wantonly enough that Cedric grinned and turned him around to face the desk again. Harry heard the cork stopper come off the potion bottle, that familiar pop of air pressure changing. It was a noise he learned to crave all spring.

Harry adjusted his stance and bent further over the desk as Cedric rubbed some of the lubricant over his anus, inserting one finger, then two, then a third.

"Ready?" Cedric asked Harry, his lubricated head pushed slightly into his opening.

"Yeah," Harry said.

Cedric pushed in and Harry's shoulder blades tightened as he dug his palms harder into the desk.

"Good?" Cedric asked once he was fully inside him.

Harry let out a breath and Cedric waited before he moved. Five weeks was a long time. Certainly long enough for everything to tighten up again.

"Okay, slowly for now," Harry said about a minute later.

Cedric heeded his request, but once Harry fully relaxed, he began to thrust freely into him. He formed a rhythm before wrapping his arm around Harry's waist. Harry was still fully erect and Cedric tugged on him with intention. Harry played against Cedric with his ass, helping synchronize some type of rhythm between Cedric's handjob and their sex. Both of them let out a noise of pleasure as they rediscovered their best pattern, and after that things did not take long to come to a climax.

Harry, who had been managing to masturbate noiselessly for weeks, let everything out now. Cedric's face pressed into his upper back, and Harry could feel the shape of it contorting with pleasure as Ced's mouth made muffled groans into his flesh.

Cedric cast some spells to clean up then led Harry the short few steps to his bed. They lay on top of the covers, too sweaty to get underneath them, and faced each other with silly smiles. Their fingers laced together and they stayed cuddling for at least an hour.

They dressed and went downstairs, not wanting to raise too many questions from Cedric's parents, who were in the living room reading. Mr. Diggory had the Prophet and Mrs. Diggory was buried in some book that looked an awful lot like a Muggle paperback to Harry.

"We'll be in the garden," Cedric called out as they passed through.

"Oh, I fixed some lemonade, if you want to bring it out with you." Mrs. Diggory offered, barely lifting her eyes from the pages of her book.

"Thanks!" Cedric called then looked at Harry to see if lemonade was of interest. Harry nodded and they found themselves on the Diggory's patio with two glasses and the pitcher.

"Have you talked to Fleur at all?" Cedric asked.

"Just one letter. You?"

"Same, just one letter to check in," Cedric said.

They sat in silence for a bit, staring into the small garden, both lost in their memories of the final task. Harry had offered to throw the task to give Cedric a better shot at winning. He'd shot red sparks after dealing with the boggart, deciding it was believable a fake dementor would affect him enough not to continue. Only Hermione and Ron, and Sirius and Professor Lupin, of course, knew about his ability to summon a corporeal Patronus. When they took him out of the maze, he'd never seen Moody so angry before. It was enough for Dumbledore to notice and take action, detaining the man until his Polyjuice Potion wore off.

If Harry had known that Viktor would be cursed and that the Triwizard Cup had been a portkey to the graveyard he'd been dreaming of all year, he never would have agreed to let Cedric try to win it. The fact that Viktor had stopped Cedric allowed Fleur to reach the Cup first. Thankfully her Veela blood was enough to throw off Peter Pettigrew's immediate allegiance to Voldemort.

Harry shivered now, imagining what might have happened if she hadn't been so quick to think of summoning the portkey back to herself. At his shiver, Cedric put his hand over Harry's wordlessly. Harry knew it was meant to comfort him, but Cedric didn't really understand how deep everything went for him.

Harry knew Voldemort was still out there, though he'd had no dreams this summer so far. Sirius had made him start practising Occlumency, which essentially required a state of meditation where you cleared your mind of emotions. He'd explained that the dreams probably were a mental link to Voldemort, that he could be taking advantage of Harry in that way. Harry hadn't told Cedric or Cho any of this. They didn't even know Sirius was alive. Only Ron and Hermione knew. They were the only friends he really trusted.

\/\/\/\

After two blissful weeks of sleeping in the same bed as Cedric every night, Harry got a letter from Hermione explaining she was finally back in England. The date to meet up with her and Ron in Diagon Alley was set for August 25th.

When the date came, Cedric assured his parents they'd be fine navigating the shopping alone, and that Harry didn't need a guardian to access his vault at Gringotts. After Harry had refilled his money pouch they met up with Cho at Quality Quidditch Supplies. They'd arrived a couple of hours before Hermione and the Weasleys were to meet them at the Leaky Cauldron so that they could spend time with Cho alone.

The three exchanged intimate hugs and Cho excitedly showed them the new racing broom on display. None of them needed a new broomstick, but it was fun to look at nonetheless. They all began to exchange longing glances and Harry suggested they leave the shop and find somewhere quieter.

That ended up being a narrow and abandoned alleyway uncomfortably close to Knockturn Alley. They were soon all kissing one another, Cho hungrily roving her hands over the two boys' crotches. They fondled her breasts in return, her thin summer blouse making for a more enjoyable go of it. Cedric finally decided this was still too public and they would need to wait before doing anything more. Cho pouted but agreed, and they emerged back into the main drag hornier and more dishevelled than they had been when they left it.

"Harry? What are you doing here so early?" Ron's voice said from behind them.

Harry spun around, his face red with guilt.

"I… we came early to see Cho," Harry said.

"Hi, Ron!" Cho sang out in her friendly way.

Ron gave her a nod and glared at Cedric a moment before returning his gaze to Harry.

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked.

"She's not here yet, I don't think," Ron said.

"Why are you so early?" Harry asked.

"Oh, mum wanted to be done with shopping by the time you got here so we could just hang out. You know how it's so hectic with all of us." Ron said, kicking the ground a bit. "I was just going to get an ice cream, and well, then I saw you."

"Can I come with you?" Harry asked, then glanced at Cedric who nodded in an unspoken agreement that Harry would go alone with Ron.

"You seem to have enough company," Ron said after seeing this exchange.

"Cho and I were going to Madam Malkin's actually. I need her opinion on dress robes and Harry could care less about that." Cedric said.

"Well, okay then." Ron shrugged.

"Okay, see you guys," Harry said to Cedric and Cho who had started holding hands. They were the only ones officially dating to the outward world, so it wasn't out of place.

Harry jogged over to Ron, who had started towards Florean Fortescue's already. The air between them was thicker than even the clotted cream flavored ice cream that the parlour served. Harry just wanted them to be normal again, but clearly, Ron remained upset. He let out a heavy sigh as he resigned himself to the fact he'd have to probe it out of Ron what was really causing his mood.

"What's that sigh for? Regretting your decision to come with me already?" Ron said harshly.

"Of course not, Ron. What are you even talking about?" Harry replied more angrily than he'd intended.

"You spent most of the summer with Cedric and the other part fielding letters from him and his girlfriend! Is that how you treat your friends, Harry? By flirting with their girlfriends right under their nose?" Ron said with bitter sarcasm.

Harry heated further with frustration.

"It's not like that! We're not friends!" He yelled before he could realize what he'd said.

"Then what are you?" Ron yelled back.

Harry swallowed. His friend hadn't picked up on it yet, he could still move the subject away from the truth. But why should he have to? What was he so ashamed of? If Ron really was his friend, which Harry certainly hoped he still was, then he should be able to trust him with this.

Harry shoved Ron off the main drag so fewer people would stare at them.

"Well?" Ron said at a normal level but still in a rude tone, clearly realizing how public their row had become now that Harry relocated them.

"We're together," Harry said quickly.

"I couldn't understand you, honestly. Can you say it again?" Ron said more calmly.

"We're not friends, Cedric and me. We're together as... as more than friends." Harry stumbled out.

"What about Cho? Isn't he dating Cho?" Ron asked.

"He is. We… we both are. We're all, the three of us, dating each other." Harry managed.

Ron frowned in confusion.

"Look, we all had that detention last spring, after the Second Task, you remember?" Harry said, and Ron nodded. "And, well, we had to clean the prefect's bathrooms and ended up… you know… and we've just been together ever since."

"You, Cho and Cedric?" Ron said.

"Yes," Harry said. He drew in a breath and held it as Ron's face struggled through several emotions.

"Hang on, you've had sex then? Is that what you said?" he finally blurted out.

"Um, yeah," Harry said. It hardly seemed the point.

"When were you going to tell me?" Ron exclaimed.

"I… um…" Harry was lost for words.

"You're not a virgin, mate! You just turned fifteen! Wicked!" Ron's face had lit up.

"Wait, is this all you care about?"

"You're the most experienced of anyone in our year, for sure! Can you even imagine Dean or Neville having had sex yet?" Ron laughed.

"Neville? Really?" Harry laughed, then probed, "He did take Ginny to the Yule Ball."

"Oi! That's my sister!"

Harry laughed harder, feeling light again. It was as if the tension between them had disapparated and no trace of it remained.

"So, what's it like?" Ron asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Sex. What is sex like?" Ron leaned in closer.

"Oh, um…" Harry got lost in memories for a moment, a pleasured smile spreading across his face. He looked back at Ron, "It's good. It's really, really good."

"Yeah, I figured that much. I meant more, what's it feel like?"

"It's like…" Harry frowned, unable to find an analogous activity. "It's like when you masturbate, but better. Different. It's not predictable, you know? Like, I don't know what rhythm changes they'll make. Or what I'll do. It's like a dance, I guess."

"Takes two to tango, and all that." Ron grinned. "Well, three, in your case."

Harry's smile widened.

Ron shook his head with laughter, spouting out, "The Boy Who Lived, and he most certainly has lived."

"Shove off!" Harry laughed.

"Really though, why didn't you tell me about this in the spring? I could've helped you sneak out and all, you know." Ron said in earnest.

"Dunno, I suppose I just was scared of what you'd think of me. That you'd not want to be my friend anymore. You were the first friend I have ever had, Ron. I was just… I can't imagine us not being friends, is all." Harry said.

"You're my best friend, Harry. Always. I'm not gonna judge you for anything, honest. You remember when we first met on the train?" Ron said.

"Yeah, course."

"And you bought all the sweets off of the trolley than offered to trade me for my sandwich. You could've just offered to share, but you knew it'd hurt my feelings. You didn't want me to at all think you were judging me for being poor. And you didn't judge me, not a bit. You knew me, even then." Ron said.

"So, we're good?"

"Course we are. I'm sorry I was such a git this summer. I suppose I am terrified of more than just spiders cos I can't imagine us not being friends either."

"Well, I'm sorry you were such a git too because it would have been way easier to read and write my letters to them in your bedroom than that gnome-infested garden," Harry said.

Ron groaned.

"I swear those gnomes multiply like rabbits. I told mum that they wouldn't be an infestation if we never bugged them, but, well you know how she is."

"Yeah, I know," Harry said, and both boys smiled at each other as only best friends can.


End file.
